Impeller assembly for waste disposer apparatus



Dec. 30, 1-969 T. R. SMI TH 3,486,701

IMPELLER ASSEMBLY FOR WASTE DISPOSER APPARATUS Filed Aug 8, 1967 ,E'gj "i INVENTOR. mam/4s A. 5/7/77! United States Patent O 3,486,701 IMPELLER ASSEMBLY FOR WASTE DISPOSER APPARATUS Thomas R. Smith, Newton, Iowa, assignor to The Maytag Company, Newton, Iowa, a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 659,111 Int. Cl. B02b 5/02; B02c 21/00 US. Cl. 24146.08 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A food waste disposer apparatus including an improved rotary impeller assembly having a pair of impellers freely pivotable on a rotor between a retracted position and an outwardly extending operative position. Resilient dampening means, including a resilient sleeve disposed between the impeller shaft and the rotor and further including resilient stop means in the form of a resilient cushion member having portions engageable by the impeller at the operative and retracted positions, effectively absorbs impact loading and thereby limits the transmission of noise and vibration between the impeller and the rotor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to a waste disposer apparatus and more particularly to an improved rotary impeller assembly.

Description of the prior art In a food waste disposer apparatus, the rotary impeller assembly is subject to impact or shock loading of the rotor and impeller as the impeller moves between retracted and extended positions and as the impeller engages bones or other objects of waste material resisting comminution. By absorbing the impact, it is possible to iliminate the objectionable vibration resulting from the impact and the noise resulting from vibration of the operating unit. Prior art shows food waste disposer apparatus having a rotary assembly including movably mounted impellers engageable with a resilient stop or cushion in the retracted or inoperative position. The object'of these devices is to absorb the impact and thereby limit or substantially prevent transmission of the impact and the vibration and noise associated with the impact. Prior art, however, is silent in the area of absorbing impact loading and limiting transmission of noise and vibration between the impeller and the rotor when the impeller moves to or is in the operative position. It is as important from the standpoint of noise and vibration to absorb the impact loading in the operative position of the impeller as in the inoperative or retracted position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a waste disposer apparatus having movably mounted impellers freely operable between an outwardly extending operative position and a retracted position and further having means for substantially absorbing impact loading on the rotary impeller assembly in both the operative and retracted positions of the impeller.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a waste disposer apparatus having an improved rotary impeller assembly including a pair of pivotally operable impellers and a resilient sleeve disposed between the impeller pivot pin and the supporting rotor.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a waste disposer apparatus having an improved rotary impeller assembly including a pair of pivotally operable impellers and resilient stop means engageable by said im- Patented Dec. 30, 1969 pellers in either the operative or extended position of the impeller to absorb impact loading.

The waste disposer of the instant invention provides an improved rotary impeller assembly having movably mounted impellers that are freely movable between extended and retracted positions and wherein resilient damp ening means is disposed between the impeller and the rotor to absorb impact loading upon movement of the impeller to either the extended or retracted positions to substantially prevent or limit transmission of noise and vibration between the impeller and the rotor.

Operation of the device and further objects and advantages thereof will become evident as the description proceeds and from an examination of the accompanying pages of drawings which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention and in which similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is an over-all vertical view of a waste disposer apparatus shown partially in section to illustrate a portion of the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the waste disposer as taken substantially along line 22 of FIG- URE 1 and shows the rotary impeller assembly with pivotally operable impellers; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the impeller assembly showing the mounting of one of the pivotal impellers as taken generally along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGURE 1, there is shown a generally cylindrical waste disposer having an upper housing 10 defining a comminution chamber 11 for accommodating waste material to be comminuted. The disposer includes an inlet 13 at its upper end for receiving the waste material. The inlet is formed at least in part by an inlet sleeve member 14 supportable in a drain opening of a sink 15 or the like. The inlet sleeve member 14 is connected to the inlet end 16 of the upper housing 10 through a supporting arrangement including a resilient sink gasket 19, upper and lower mounting plates 20 and 21, a housing clamping plate 23, an annular ring (not shown) for supporting the lower mounting plate 21 on the inlet sleeve member 14, and a plurality of mounting studs 24.

A lower housing 25 defines a discharge chamber 26 communicating with a fluid outlet 29. The lower housing 25 is attached to the upper housing 10 through a housing clamp 30 encompassing the lower portion of the upper housing 10 and having a flange 31 mating with a flange 33 of the lower housing 25. A plurality of bolts 34 join the mating flanges 31 and 33.

A substantially cylindrical annular shredder ring 35 is maintained in a relatively stationary position through the clamping action of the housing clamp 30 and the lower housing 25. The shredder ring 35 includes a plurality of inwardly extending shredding elements 36 disposed around the inner periphery thereof. Positioned between adjacent pairs of the inwardly extending elements 36 are longitudinally extending channels 39 for accommodating flow of fluid and comminuted waste material from the comminution chamber 11 toward the discharge chamber 26 and the outlet 29. The shredder ring 35 engages and compresses a sealing flange 40 at the lower end of the upper housing 10 and a sealing gasket 41 recessed into the upper flange of the lower housing 25 to seal the comminution chamber 11 and discharge chamber 26 from leakage through the connection at the mating flanges 31 and 33 of the housing clamp 30 and the lower housing 25.

A rotary impeller assembly 43 includes a rotor 44 attached to the motor shaft (not shown) for rotation therewith. The rotor 44 supports a pair of substantially identical impellers 45 that are cooperable with the inwardly extending elements 36 of the shredder ring 35 for effecting comminution of the waste material upon rotation of the rotor 44.

Attached to the lower portion of the lower housing 25 is a motor 46 for rotating the rotary impeller assembly 43 in a direction shown by the arrow 48 in FIGURE 2 to effect comminution of waste material between the impellers 45 and the shredder ring 35. Means, not shown, provide for selective energization of the motor 46.

The disc-like rotor 44 has an upper face 50 substantially forming a bottom for the comminution chamber 11 and a lower face 51 substantially forming the upper side of the discharge chamber 26 whereby the rotor 44 effectively serves as a divider between the comminution chamber 11 and the discharge chamber 26. The rotor 44 includes a depending central mounting hub 53 attached to the motor shaft, as by a threaded engagement, for effecting rotation of the rotor 44 by the motor 46. The outer diameter of the rotor 44 is established so that the periphery is closely spaced from the inner surface of the inwardly extending elements 36. Th rotor 44 also includes a plurality of holes 54 for accommodating flow of fluid from the comminuting chamber 1.1 into the discharge chamber 26.

The pair of impellers 45 are pivotally supported, as best shown in FIGURE 2, at substantially diametrically opposed positions on the rotor 44 and, since the impellers 45 are substantially identical, a description of one impeller and its mounting applies to each of the pair. Pivotal mounting of the impellers provides for effective comminution while reducing the incidence of jamming.

The impeller 45 is located near the outer portion of the rotor 44 and pivotally supported thereon by a pivot pin 58 supported in turn by the rotor 44. Referring to FIGURE 3, the pivot pin 58 is fixed to the rotor 44 as by a press fit and includes a head portion 59 recessed flush to the top surface of the impeller 45 and operable for pivotally retaining the impeller 45 on the rotor 44. A resilient sleeve member 60, as one form of resilient dampening means, is disposed between the pivot pin 58 and the pivot hole 61 of the impeller 45 and serves as a pivot bearing for the impeller 45. The resilient sleeve member 60 is preferably formed of a polyurethane material which possesses unique characteristics making it useful in the environment of a food waste disposer. The resilient sleeve 60 is capable of absorbing impact loading of the impeller 45 and thereby preventing transmission of the impact through the pivot mounting.

In addition to providing desirable impact absorption, the material for the resilient sleeve 60 provides a bearing that is capable of eliminating problems of corrosion and sticking of the impeller on the pivot pin.

The impeller 45 is freely pivotable about the pivot pin 58 between its retracted or inoperative position, as shown by broken lines in FIGURE 2, and its extended or operative position, as shown by full lines in FIGURE 2. The impeller 45 is operable or movable from its retracted position to its operative position responsive to centrifugal force acting on the impeller 45 upon rotation of the rotor 44 by the motor 46 as will be more fully defined and explained hereinafter.

The impeller 45 includes a first portion 63 having relatively large mass and disposed outwardly from the pivot pin 58 when the impeller 45 is in the operative position and establishing a mass center for the impeller 45 spaced from the pivot axis and spaced from a line 64 drawn between the axis of rotation from the rotary impeller assembly 43 and the pivot axis of the pivotal impeller 45. Upon rotation of the rotary impeller assembly 43, the cEntrifugal force acting on the mass center imparts a moment about the pivot pin 58 effecting movement of the impeller 45 in a clockwise direction as shown by the arrow 65 in FIGURE 2. As the impeller moves outwardly the moment arm of the mass center decreases but does not reach zero. Therefore, the impeller 45 is maintained in the outwardly extending operative position by centrifugal force acting on the mass center during rotation of the rotary impeller assembly 43 or until forced out of the operative position by items of waste material not easily comminuted.

The impeller 45 further includes a comminuting portion or cutting edge 66 cooperable with the inwardly extending elements 36 of the shredding ring 35 for effecting comminution of waste materials therebetween. The impeller 45 still further includes a tapered rear portion 68 extending inwardly from the pivot pin 58, with the impeller 45 in the operative position, and engageable with resilient stop means 69 upon movement of the impeller 45 to the operative position as will be more fully defined hereinafter.

The stop means, as another form of resilient dampening means, is provided as a centrally located resilient cushion member 69 having portions engageable by the pivotally operable impeller 45 wherein a first face or portion 70 is engageable by the rear portion 68 of the impeller 45 in the operative position while a separate face or portion 71 is engageable by the outer portion 63 of the impeller while in the retracted position. The resilient cushion member 69 may be formed of a polyurethane material or other suitable elastomeric material possessing resistance to the moisture and abrasion present in the environment of a food waste disposer. The resilient cushion member 69 is axially retained on the rotor 44 by a collar 73 and screw member 74 as best shown in FIGURE 3 and non-rotatively retained on the rotor 44 by a pair of upwardly extending projections 75 and 76 as best shown in FIGURE 2. In addition to retaining the cushion member, the projections 75 and 76 serve as guards for the cushion member 69 as it moves into the waste material. A first of the upwardly extending projections 75 is in the form of a kicker attached to the rotor 44 for rotation therewith and extending above the cushion member 69. The kicker 75 is effective for dislodging or moving waste material items which may tend to become located at the central portion of the comminution chamber 11.

It has been shown in the drawings and the foregoing discussion that upon energization of the motor 46 the impellers 45 will move about the pivot pin 58 in a clockwise direction toward the operative position as shown by full lines in FIGURE 2. Movement of these impellers 45 to the outwardly extending position under centrifugal force will cause the rear portion 68 of the impeller 45 to engage the first stop portion 70 with an impact that in the absence of resilient cushion member 69 would cause objectionable vibration and noise. In the present invention, however, the provision of the resilient dampening means absorbs the impact and prevents transmission of objectionable vibration and noise. Engagement between the rear portion 68 of the impeller 45 and the cushion member 69 is effective for providing proper positioning of the comminuting portion 66 to effect optimum comminution of waste material between the comminuting portion 66 and the inwardly extending shredding elements 36. Centrifugal force acting on the mass center of the impeller 45 tending to move the impeller in a clockwise direction about the pivot pin 58 provides a moment about the pivot pin for normally maintaining contact of the rear portion 68 with the cushion member 69. The centrifugal force is sufficient to transfer a compressive force to the cushion member 69 with the impeller 45 in the operative position.

In the event the impeller 45 encounters waste material not easily comminuted or which otherwise might cause a jamming of the rotary impeller assembly 43, the impeller 45 is pivoted about the pivot pin 58 in a counterclockwise direction to allow the waste material to move past the impeller. This pivotal action of the impeller 45 may occur rapidly and result in an impact of the outer portion 63 of the impeller on the portion 71 of the central cushion member 69 as the impeller 45 assumes its retracted position as shown by broken lines in FIGURE 2. However, resilient stop means in the form of cushion member 69 is engageable by the impeller and thus absorbs the impact and prevents or limits transmission of vibration and objectionable noise. Following this pivotal movement out of the operative position, the impeller 45 is returned to its operative position under centrifugal force to continue the comminution operation on other materials in the comminution chamber, It may be seen that this kicking out of the impeller 45 may occur repeatedly under conditions in which the comminution chamber 11 includes a number of bones for example. In such a circumsatnce, the repeated kicking out and reengaging movements of the impeller 45 would create a vibration and noise problem if the instant invention is not used.

It is therefore seen that the instant invention provides a waste disposer apparatus having an improved rotary impeller assembly operable in a manner to achieve optimum comminution of waste material while effectively controlling or eliminating objectionable noise and vibration resulting from impact loading of the rotary impeller assembly.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed, these are used in a generic and a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Changes in form and the proportion of parts as well as the substitution of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention as further defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A waste disposer apparatus including a housing providing a comminution chamber and having an inlet for receiving waste material and fluid, the combination comprising: shredding means within said comminution chamber; a rotary impeller assembly including a rotor and at least one impeller movably mounted on said rotor within said comminution chamber, said impeller being juxtaposed to said shredding means and cooperable therewith while in a first operative position upon rotation of said rotor for effecting comminution of said waste material; drive means for rotating said rotary impeller assembly; and resilient dampening means disposed between said impeller and said rotor in said first operative position and in a second retracted position of said impeller and operative for absorbing impact loading whereby transmission of vibration is limited.

2. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said impeller is pivotally mounted on said rotor and wherein said resilient dampening means includes a resilient sleeve member disposed in the pivotal mounting between said impeller and said rotor.

3. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilient dampening means includes resilient stop means having a first portion engageable by said impeller in said first operative position.

4. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said impeller is pivotally mounted on said rotor and wherein said resilient dampening means includes a resilient sleeve member disposed in the pivotal mounting between said impeller and said rotor and further includes a resilient stop means engageable by said impeller in said first operative position,

5. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilient dampening means includes a resilient stop means having a first portion engageable by said impeller in said first operative position and a second portion engageable by said impeller in a second retracted position.

6. A waste disposer apparatus including a housing providing a comminution chamber ancl having an inlet for receiving waste material and fluid, the combination comprising: shredding means within said comminution chamber; a rotary impeller assembly including a rotor, a pivot pin, and at least one impeller within said comminution chamber pivotally mounted on said rotor by said pivot pin, said impeller being juxtaposed to said shredding means and cooperable therewith while in a first operative position upon rotation of said rotor for effecting comminution of said waste material; drive means for rotating said rotary impeller assembly; and resilient sleeve means on said pivot pin and disposed between said impeller and said rotor.

7. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said pivot pin is secured to said rotor and wherein said resilient sleeve means is in the form of pivot bearing means disposed between said impeller and said pivot pin.

8. A waste disposer apparatus including a housing providing a comminution chamber and having an inlet for receiving waste material and fluid, the combination comprising: shredding means within said comminution chamber; a rotary impeller assembly including a rotor and at least one impeller movably mounted on said rotor within said comminution chamber, said impeller being juxtaposed to said shredding means and cooperable therewith while in a first operative position upon rotation of said rotor for efiecting comminution of said waste material; drive means for rotating said rotary impeller assembly; and resilient stop means on said rotor and engageable by said impeller in said first operative position for operatively positioning said impeller and for absorbing and dampening impact loading to substantially prevent transmission of vibration between said impeller and said rotor.

9. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said resilient stop means includes a first portion engageable by said impeller in said first operative position and a second portion engageable by said impeller in a second retracted position.

10. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said resilient stop means is engageable by said impeller with a compressive force to effect positioning of said impeller in said first operative position.

11. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said impeller is pivotally mounted on said rotor and wherein said impeller includes a mass centroid spaced from a radial line drawn between the axis of rotation of said rotor and the pivot axis of said impeller to develop a centrifugal force for normally maintaining said impeller against said stop member.

12. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein the rotary impeller assembly includes a pair of oppositely disposed impellers and wherein said resilient stop means is centraly located on said rotary impeller assembly for engagement by each of said pair of impellers.

13. A waste disposer apparatus as defined in claim 12 wherein said centrally located resilient stop means is nonrotatively retained with respect to said rotor by a substantially upwardly extending kicker element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,509,242 5/1950 Miller et al. 24ll94 X 3,182,918 5/1965 Shive 241l94 X 3,403,865 10/1968 Guth et al 24146 JAMES M. MEISTER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

